The Curse Of The Red Ruby Ring
by mickys411
Summary: A series of misfortunes and bad luck are thrown upon Winston, when a ring from another civilation gets stuck on his finger
1. Chapter 1

On what was considered one of the hottest days recorded in the city of New York, residents along the five broughos tried different methods to beat the summer heat.

Some folks hit the public pools or beach, while others decided on an indoor activity, whether it was going to a movie, play,musical, or even one of the many museums the city had to offer.

On this day one of New York's most well known museums The Museum Of Natural History was experiencing high volume of activity, not for the latest exhibits, but because of the appearance of ghosts.

A group of class 3 entities to be exact.

And it was up to the Ghostbusters to catch them.

The four member team split themselves into two groups as a way of trying to find the spirits faster.

Dr. Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddmore raced up and down the main floor and the second level, while Dr. Ray Stantz and Dr. Egon Spengler searched the third and fourth floors.

The group kept in contact with one another using walkie talkies.

Peter and Winston had found the entities on the second level, chasing them out of the Louis Calder Laboratory.

As the two raced down the stairway, back to the main floor, Winston called Ray on his walkie talkie and said,"Ray, Peter and I found the ghosts.

Where are you and Egon now?"

"Third floor in the hall of reptiles and amphibians," Ray answered.

"Must us on the first floor pronto!"

"We'll be right there!"

Thankfully, when Peter and Winston made it to the main floor, they were able to keep the ghosts contained with their proton streams, as they waited for Ray and Egon to arrived, which they did a few short minutes later and joined the rest of the group.

"We've got them steady now!" Ray shouted.

"Egon, get the trap!" Winston called out.

"Better make that two traps!" Peter added.

"Here they come!" Egon yelled, as he slide not one but two traps at a time under the ghouls.

Egon and Peter each stomped on a trap at the same time, as they along with Winston and Ray lowered the ghosts inside them.

Once the entities were caught, the traps were closed shut.

"We got them," said Ray, kneeling down near the now smoking traps.

Egon gave the room a quick sweep with a PKE meter and said,"It's all clear.

No sign of anymore ectoplasma activity.

As Winston gave Ray a hand with picking up the trap, he noticed a small object on the ground.

It was a ring that had a metal band with a small red colored stone on top.

Winston picked up the ring.

He looked over it and said,"This looks like a decoder ring I had as a kid.

Ray took a look at the object and said,"I had one like that to."

"Same here," Peter added.

"I wouldn't know what one looks like," said Egon.

"That's because you probobley didn't have you."

"Correct.

What I'm curious to know is what an object like that is doing in the middle of the museum."

"Maybe it fell and roll out of the gift shop during the commotion," Ray pointed out.

"Well, I think it's kind of neat," said Winston, as he placed the ring onto the ring finger of his left hand.

After meeting the the head of the museum to collect their payment and Winston paid for the ring at the gift shop, the ghostbusters left the building and headed for their car Ecto-1.

When the traps and proton backs were loaded, the group climbed into the car with Winston in the driver's seat.

However, when he turned the igintion key, the engine wouldn't start up.

"What's going on?" asked Ray, who was in the front passenger seat.

"Ecto's not starting up," Winston answered.

"Maybe the car's out of gas," Peter suggested.

"I filled up the take this morning."

Egon sniffed a bit and said,"Is something burning?"

Sure enough, he was right.

As at that moment, smoke was steaming out of the hood of Ecto-1.

"What the hell?" said Ray, as he and the other ghostbusters scrambled out of the car.The four member team gathered around the front Ecto-1.

Winston carefully reached over the lift the hood opened.

Once he did, more smoke rose around the ghostbusters, causing them to start coughing and choking.

"Must be the engine," Ray, sputtered out in between coughs.

Once the smoke cleared away, he and Winston were able to get a better look inside.

Egon went to the back, and took out the emergency road kit, next to the packs.

He handed the box to Ray, who took out a flashlight.

He looked around the engine to see what the source of the problem was.

"The engine must have overheated itself," said Ray, who handed the flashlight to Winston, who said,"Could be issues with the distribulor cap as well."

Winston reached for a small screw driver out of the road kit, and lightly touched the engine with it.

However, a stream of oil squirted out, spraying his face and the front of his flightsuit.

"Was that your knack on fixing the engine?" Peter asked with a laugh.

Winston simply rolled his eyes, as he wiped his face with a cloth.

"I'll call for a tow truck and have them take it to the firehouse," said Ray.

"Good idea.

But let's take the equipment out first, I don't want to risk any accidents," Egon pointed out.

While Ray called for a tow truck, Winston,Peter and Egon removed the packs,traps and PKE meters out from the back seat.

As Winston was taking out his pack, the wiring got caught on a meter, causing it to slide out of Ecto-1.

Though he tried to grab it, the meter slipped out of Winston's hand and it shattered on the sidewalk's pavement.

"Smooth move," said Peter.

"Sorry about Egon," said a slightly embarassed Winston.

"Not to worry.

I can fix it once when get back to the firehouse," said Egon.

Ray returned from the payphones and told the other ghostbusters that a tow truck was on the way.

As he was giving his team a hand removing the rest of the equipment, Peter handed Ray the smoking traps and said,"You better hold these Ray.

We don't want to risk any escapes."

"How come?" asked Ray.

Peter told Ray what had happened to the PKE meter, causing him to get a glare from Egon and making Winston feel even more embarass.


	2. chapter 2

The ghostbusters only waited about twenty minutes for the tow truck to show up.  
Since there was no room inside his 'cabbie', the group walked behind the driver as he took the car to the firehouse, leaving it at the front of the building.  
While along the walk, a bird dropped a 'surprise' onto Winston's flightsuit, causing Peter to muffle a few chuckles.  
After paying the tow truck driver for his service, all four ghostbusters got behind Ecto-1, and pushed it into headquarters.  
Jeanie the receptionist looked up from the paperwork on her desk, and was quite surprised to see her bosses push their car into the firehouse.  
"What happened to the car?" she asked.  
"The engine over heated," Ray answered, once he and the other ghostbusters got the car into position of the center of the firehouse.  
"Ray and I are going to check out to see what the problem is," said Winston, who lifted the car's hood up.  
And thankfully did not get sprayed on by oil.  
"You two have fun playing mechcanic, I'm going to hit the shower," said Peter, as he headed upstairs.  
"I'm going to place the entities into the containment unit," said Egon, as he headed to the basement.

Ray and Winston then looked inside the engine to see what could have cause the problem for it to over heat.  
"Doesn't seem to be anything wrong here," said Ray.  
"So why did smoke come out of the hood in the first place?" asked Winston.  
"Maybe the was slightly over heat."  
Winston placed his hand onto the engine to check if it was hot or cold.  
Once he did, he felt a burning sinsation on his palm.  
"OW damn!" said Winston, as he pulled his hand out, but not before banging his head on the hood.  
"ARRHHGG!" Winston then grunted, rubbing the back of his head, with his 'good' hand.  
Jeanie got up from her desk and tended him.  
"Easy now Winston.  
Take it easy," she said.  
"This has not been your day today Winston," Ray pointed out.  
"No kidding," Winston muddered, still rubbing his head.  
Egon raced up the basement stairs and said,"Is everything alright?  
I heard a loud commotion."  
"Winston banged his head on the car hood," Jeanie answered.  
"After burning his hand on the car's engine," Ray added.  
"I'd like to give him a quick examination," said Egon.  
After Ray and Jeanie helped helped him to a nearby chair, Egon looked over Winston's head and hand.  
"No bumps or bruising on the head, which is a good sign of nothing serious, but place some ice on the area to reduce any swelling, and ice on the palm of your hand as well to cool down the burning," said Egon.  
"Thanks, I'll do that," said Winston.

As he headed up the stairs to get some ice for his injuries, Winston passed by Peter, who had taken a shower and was now dressed in his regular clothes instead of his flightsuit.  
"What happened to you?" Peter asked.  
"Burned my hand on Ecto's engine and banged my head on the car hood, Winston answered,I'm going to get myself some ice."  
"You should also take care of that bird stain on your flightsuit."  
"Yeah that to.  
Thanks."  
Peter headed down to the main level and met with everyone.  
"Gee, if it's not one thing it's another with Winston," he said.  
"Have you two noticed anything unusual about what's been going on with Winston?" Ray asked Peter and Egon.  
"What are you talking about?" asked Peter.  
"Since he found that ring, there's a connection to everything that's been happening to him.  
The car, the bird droppings, burning his hand, and banging his head."  
"It's all conensidenally Raymond," said Egon.  
"Ray, have you been watching too many of those late night movies again?" asked Peter.  
"I'm serious Peter.  
All these bad luck situations don't happen all at once," said Ray.  
"Ray, everybody has a bad day now and then."  
"You're right, Peter, but I just have this feeling.  
Maybe we should look in on it."  
"Very well then.  
But I highly doubt there's anything on possessed artifacts including jewelry in Tobin's spirit guide," Egon pointed out.

At that moment, the front doors of headquarters opened.  
And a woman, pushing a baby stroller entered.  
"Hi everyone," she said.  
The three ghostbusters and Jeanie greeted the woman and infant as they knew it was Peter's girlfriend Dana Barrett and her baby son Oscar.  
"Hi Dana, hello little Oscar," said Jeanie, kneeling beside the stroller.  
"Jinnie," babbled Oscar.  
Good afternoon Dana, Oscar," said Egon.  
"Hi Dana, said Ray, as he knelt down to Oscar, took him out of his stroller and said, Hey little buddy."  
"Ray," babbled Oscar, who then giggled as Ray bounced him a bit.  
Peter rubbed Oscar's head and said, "Hey buddy," before saying "Hello" to Dana.  
After getting greeted by Peter with a kiss, Dana warned Ray, "Please be careful Ray.  
Oscar's front teeth are coming in, and he's been biting a bit."  
"Thanks for the head's up, but Oscar seems fine to me," said Ray.  
"Well, he got me a few times yesterday," said Peter, as he held up his right hand, that had a few Band-Aids on it.  
"So Peter and I are taking Oscar for a walk through the Central Park Zoo to keep him distracted," Dana added.

At that moment, Winston, now dressed in regular clothes greeted, came down stairs.  
"Hi Dana, hi little man," he said to Dana and Oscar, who he was about to take from Ray.  
Egon then warned, "Winston be careful, Dana us that Oscar's front teeth are coming in, so he's been.."  
"Ouch!" said Winston, as he felt something slightly sharp on the side of his left index finger.  
"Biting."  
Egon took Oscar from Winston, who checked on his finger.  
He gave the child back to Dana who said, "Oscar that wasn't very nice.  
She looked up at Winston and said, "I'm very sorry about that Winston.  
If it makes you feel any better, he got Peter at least 5 times yesterday."  
Peter once again held up his bandage coved hand.  
"That's OK Dana.  
It's not the worse thing that's happen to me today," said Winston, as he took a Band-Aid from the first aid kit by Jeanie's desk.  
"Winston's having a bad day," Ray pointed out.  
"Car issues, burned his hand, banged his head, and a bird got him to, Peter added," And Ray thinks it all connected somehow.  
He turned to Winston and said, "Look on the bright side.  
At least Oscar didn't throw up on you or gave you a wet lap."  
Winston gave Peter a dirty look in responds to the remark.  
"This seems like my cue to exit, said Peter Sorry about what I said Winston.  
And tell Ray that the ring you have on has nothing to do with what's been going on with you."


	3. chapter 3

Before leaving with Dana and Oscar, Peter told his fellow ghostbusters he would see them later on.  
And Dana apologized to Winston once again for what happened with Oscar.  
When the three left, Winston turned to Ray and Egon and said, "Ok, what's this all about the ring I found?"  
"As much as I hate to say this Winston, I believe there is a curse behind that ring," Ray answered.  
"Before we jump to any conclusions Ray, we're going to see if your theory is truthful, said Egon, who then said Winston, If you don't mind removing the ring Winston, we'd like to have a better look at it."  
"Not at all," said Winston.  
However, when Winston tried to take the ring off, it was stuck on his finger.  
"I can't get it to budge off," said Winston as he pulled on the ring.  
"Let me try," Ray suggested.  
He took a hold of the ring and tried to remove it, but it wouldn't come off.  
"That thing is stuck on there but good," said Ray.  
"Try using soap and water.  
That works for me when I have a ring stuck on my hand," Jeanie suggested.  
"Good idea.  
That might work," said Winston.  
So while Winston went to try Jeanie's suggestion, Ray and Egon went to change back into their regular clothes and then to the lab and began their search for information on the ring.

In another part of town, staff members of The Museum Of Natural History had just finished straightening up from the ghostbusters visit earlier that day.  
At that moment, a man in his mid 50's walked down the hallway.  
It was the manager who the ghostbusters met during their time at the museum.  
He approached one of the staff, a man who appeared to be in his mid 30's.  
"Philip, is everything back in order?" the man asked.  
"Yes sir Mr. Baxter," Philip answered.  
"Splendid, I want everything to be in top shape when we reveal the Eastern Civilization Exhibit next Monday.  
Just then, a young woman about the same age as Philip entered the hallway.  
"Mr. Baxter, we have a situation," said the woman.  
"What's the matter Sara?" asked Mr. Baxter.  
"The Eygptian ruby ring of misfortune is missing."  
"What happened to it?"  
"I'm not sure.  
We looked everywhere and we can't find it."  
"It must have gotten misplaced during the commotion earlier.  
Sara, Philip have everyone search all the floors along with the storage area, the gift shop, the café, and the employees station.  
Hopefully, nobody walked out of the museum with it."  
"Right away Mr. Baxter," said Sara, as she hurried off.  
"Yes sir," said Philip.  
"Let's hope we find that ring.  
It's the key focus of the exhibit," said Mr. Baxter, before for he left.  
Damn it," Philip muddered as we went back to work.

Back at ghostbusters headquarters, Ray and Egon were in the lab, reading over some books, hoping to find what they were looking for.  
"Anything?" Ray asked.  
"So far, I haven't found anything in Tobin's spirit guide," Egon answered.  
At that moment, Winston entered the lab, wearing a different shirt instead of the one from earlier.  
"Why did you change shirts?" Ray asked.  
"When I was trying Jeanie's method, Peter's after shave fell out of the medicine cabinet and I got dosed with it," Winston answered.  
"The one that smells like he took a bath sea water?" asked Egon.  
"How did you know?"  
"We can still smell it on you," Ray answered.  
"All's kidding aside, did you two find anything yet about the ring?" asked Winston.  
"So far not yet," Egon answered, as he began to look through another book.  
"Were you able to take the ring off?" asked Ray.  
"Still stuck on there," Winston answered, as he held up his hand.  
Winston once again tried to removed, but ended up swinging his arm back, which caused him to knock over some paper work and two beakers onto the ground.  
"Sorry about that," said a now embarrassed Winston, as he began to clean up the mess.  
Egon placed down the book he was reading to help.

As the two were finish cleaning up, along with Winston getting a paper cut or two, Ray made a conclusion.  
"Here it is!  
I found it!" Ray shouted.  
Egon and Winston(after putting a few more Band-Aids on his fingers) approached Ray.  
"What is it?" asked Winston.  
"The Egyptian ruby ring of misfortune," said Ray.  
"Well, what's it all about then?"  
Egon took the book from Ray and began to read.  
"According to historians the ring was believed to be created around 4000 AD.  
The ring's purpose was to bring a series of misfortune and bad luck as punishment to thieves and murderers causing them to lose all sanity."  
"I've had this ring on only a half a day and I'm already starting to lose my mind.  
What happened to the thieves and murders afterwards?" asked Winston.  
"It would be best not said," Egon replied.  
"I take it has to do with death."  
"You take it right," Ray answered.

At that moment, Peter entered the lab.  
"Well, the park did the trick.  
Oscar's out like a light, he said, Any luck with the ring?  
Were you able to get it off of Winston?"  
"No such luck," Egon answered.  
"And what these two just told me didn't help much either," Winston added.  
"Let me guess, the bad luck drove those who wore the ring to the brink of insanity that it killed them," asked Peter.  
"Great.  
As if I'm not feeling horrible now, that made me feel much worse," said Winston.  
"Smooth move Peter," said Ray.  
"What?  
What did I say?" asked Peter.  
"We'll just have to come up with a solution to get the ring off of Winston, and bring it back to the museum," said Egon, trying to keep the situation under control.  
"How do I do that?  
Soap and water didn't work," Winston pointed out.  
"I'm sure there are plenty of methods to remove a stuck ring."


	4. chapter 4

The four Ghostbusters left the lab, and entered the kitchen.  
Egon went to a nearby cabinet, took out a large bowl, headed to the refridgartor, took an ice tray out of the freezer, and poured all the ice cubes into the bowl.  
"Egon, are you on some new fad diet?" asked Peter.  
"It's for Winston," said Egon.  
"I don't think he needs to diet."  
The bowl of ice is for his hand.  
I'm going to try to freeze the ring off his finger."  
"That may work," said Ray.  
Egon placed the bowl of ice onto the kitchen table and said, "Go ahead Winston."  
"Well, OK then.  
Worth a try," said Winston, as he took a seat and placed his hand in the ice bowl, in hopes that the ring will fall off.

While Winston tried the method, the other ghostbusters waited.  
And waited.  
And waited.  
"Say guys, do you think I can take my hand out of the bowl now?  
I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers," asked Winston.  
"Go ahead," Ray answered.  
Winston then took his hand out of the bowl.  
And was slightly peeved to see that the ring was still on his finger.  
"Maybe you can finally get it off now," said Peter.  
Winston once again tried to remove the ring, however, not only was he still not able to get it off, but knocked over the bowl of ice on the ground in the process.  
Thankfully the bowl was unbreakable.  
But there was ice and water all over the floor.  
Egon went to get a mop and bucket and Peter grabbed some paper towels to clean up the mess.  
"Sorry about that," said Winston.  
"That's OK.  
It was worth a try, said Ray.  
"What about the opposite of ice?  
Steam and heat?" Peter suggested.  
"That may work," Egon answered.

Ray took a teapot out of the cupboard, filled it with water and placed it on the stove.  
As he turned the dial on the stove, Ray said to Winston," Place your finger by the spout, maybe the steam will make the ring fall off."  
Within moments of putting the teapot on, steam began to spray out of the spout.  
However, the amount of steam increased and a huge patch of it cascade the kitchen.  
Winston made his way to open the window, but ended up bumping into Peter and nearly knocked Egon out of his seat.  
"Hey watch it Zeddmore," said Peter.  
"Winston please try to be careful," Egon added.  
"Sorry you guys.  
It's hard to see anything with all this steam," said Winston, as he finally managed to get the window open.

Just then the ghostbusters heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  
"Everything OK up here guys?" asked a voice.  
"Yeah we're fine Jeanie.  
Everything's under control," Ray called.  
"For the most part," Peter added.  
"Any luck getting that ring off?" Jeanie asked Winston.  
"I tried the soap and water trick, but that didn't work," Winston answered.  
"We also tried ice and steam.  
None of them work either," Egon added.  
"So that's what it was, said Jeanie, I though for a minute it was an experiment gone wrong one of you was trying to cook something."  
Speaking of cooking, anyone else hungry?" asked Peter.

A few moments later, after the steam finally cleared the kitchen, everyone had a quick bite to eat.  
The ghostbusters had leftover pizza from the night before, while Jeanie had a tuna salad that she brought from home.  
After eating, Ray was putting the plates in the sink when a thought popped into his head.  
He then took a large bowl from the cupboard, opened the fridge and began to remove serval items.  
"Ray what are you doing?" asked Winston.  
"I just thought of a trick that my great Auntie Stantz used to removed stuck rings, answered Ray, as he poured a mixture of soy sauce and yogurt into the bowl, among other, Do we have any hot sauce and peanut butter?"  
"Yes.  
We always keep the handy when I'm in the mood for a pb and hot sauce sandwich," said Peter.  
"Great."  
Ray then mixed the two ingredients into the bowl.  
"Raymond, are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Egon.  
"I sure do," Ray answered, as he stirred the items in the bowl.  
He took the spoon out of the bowl and said, Perfect.  
It's ready.  
Put your hand in the bowl."  
While Winston seemed very skeptical, he sat down and placed his hand in the bowl.  
"I guess whatever works, he said, By the way, how long do I keep my hand in here?"  
"About an hour," Ray answered.  
As a way of passing the time, Ray and Peter played a game of cards, Jeanie read a magazine and Egon adjusted a PKE meter, meanwhile all Winston could do was look at the clock and wait, and wait and wait.

Exactly one hour later, Winston was allow to take his hand out of the bowl.  
Winston's entire hand up to his forearm was covered in residue for Ray's elixir.  
"Now just rinse off that residue off your hand and that ring should slide off like butter," said Ray.  
Winston went to the sink to clean off his hand, then tried to take the ring off, but it was still stuck.  
"Sorry much for your brilliant plan," Peter said to Ray.  
"I don't understand unless, said Ray, Now I remember that remedy was for face blemishes.  
I must have gotten the two mix-up silly me."  
Winston, Peter, Egon and Jeanie all gave a look to Ray.  
"It really doesn't matter now Raymond, just please dispose of whatever that is.  
Even with the window open, the scent is still over powering," said Egon.  
"Yes please," Jeanie added.  
"I agree.  
And I've changed Oscar a few times," said Peter grabbing his nose.  
Ray took the bowl off the table, but slipped a bit on some water, leftover from the ice treatment.  
Though he didn't fall, as he grabbed onto a chair, the bowl slipped out of Ray's hands, and the contents covered Winston.  
"Aww Damn it!" Winston snapped.  
"Reminds me of the first time Oscar threw up on me," said Peter.  
Frustated by what was happening to him, Winston leave the kitchen fuming.  
"Poor Winston.  
All the bad luck he's been having," said Jeanie.  
"Not to mention he's running out of clean clothes," Peter added.


	5. chapter 5

Meanwhile, back at the museum.  
Philip was still looking through every nook and cranny of the building in hopes of finding the ring.  
However, he came up empty.  
"All this searching is proofing to be fruitless, he said, That ring couldn't have just gotten up and walked away.  
Philip you idiot, I could you not realize that hole in your coat pocket.  
That ring was suppose to make me a fortune and famous.

At that moment, a thought popped into Philip's head.  
"Wait a minute, he said, The ring disappeared when those gentlemen showed up."  
Philip raced out of his office, and went up to a door.  
When he knocked on it, Philip here a voice said, "Come in."  
Philip entered the room, and found Sara, working on her computer.  
"Sorry to bother you Sara," said Philip as he entered the office.  
"No trouble at all Philip, said Sara, What can I do for you?"  
"I need the name of the group of gentlemen who were here earlier today during that incident."  
"The ghostbusters."  
Philip took out a notebook from the pocket of his khaki slacks, along with a pen from his shirt pocket and jotted down the team's name.  
"I actually have their phone number as well.  
Mr. Baxter asked me to keep it, in case an event like we had earlier happens again," said Sara, as she handed Philip a business card with the ghostbusters name and phone number on it.  
"Thank you Sara," said Philip.  
"By the way, if you don't mind me asking, why do you need the number?"  
"I thought I heard something in my apartment building.  
It could be a mouse, but I was planning on calling them, just to be sure there aren't any ghosts."  
"Very well then."  
"Thank you again Sara.  
"You're welcome Philip."  
Philip left the office and let Sara return to her work.  
He then raced back into his office to make a phone call.

Back at the firehouse, Winston, who had changed his clothes met the rest of the team and Jeanie on the main level.  
Thankfully he had an extra pair of jeans, but had to borrow a shirt from Ray.  
"Thanks for lending me the shirt," said Winston.  
"Not a problem," Ray answered, as he looked up from a book.  
It was the same book he was reading earlier about the origin of the ring.  
During that time, Peter was trying to open a window to get fresh air in, as the firehouse was still smelling of Ray's concaution.  
But the window was stuck.  
"Our hero," Jeanie said with a slight laugh.  
"Hey Spengler give me a hand with this," Peter called out Egon.  
Egon, who was at his desk, reading over files from the museum case, met Peter by the window and tried to open it.  
However, the window still would not budge.  
Winston approached the two and said, "Let me try."  
He took a grip on the window and was able to move it up.  
But within second, the window unhindged and fell to the ground, leaving broken glass and wood pieces on the floor.  
"I tried," Winston sighed, before going to get a broom, dustpan and trash can, while Peter and Egon carefully cleaned up the mess.  
At that moment, the phone rang.  
"Ghostbusters," Jeanie answered.  
She then jotted down something onto a piece of paper.  
"Yes, I'll tell them," said Jeanie, before hanging up the phone.  
"Looks like another spotting at the museum," she said.  
Thankfully Peter and Egon had finished cleaning up, and they, along with Ray and Winston quickly got into their flightsuits and headed back to the museum.

After pulling up in front of the museum, the ghostbusters climbed out of Ecto-1, placed on their proton packs and headed inside.  
The four member team were greeted in the lobby by Philip.  
"Ghostbusters.  
Thank goodness you've arrived," said Philip.  
"What seems to be the problem?" asked Ray.  
"The staff and I heard noises coming from the second level."  
"It could be an entity that was left behind.  
We'd better go check it out," said Egon.  
As the ghostbusters were about to head in to the direction they needed to go, Philip stopped them.  
"Just a moment gentlemen, he said, Before you start your job.  
I need to take a quick look at your hands.  
The ghostbusters were confused by the request.  
"Excuse me, but why do you have to look at our hands?" Peter asked.  
"Mr. Baxter has a thing about clean hands and doesn't want any dirt or prints on the exhibits," Philip answered.  
Though they were skeptical, all four ghostbusters showed Philip the palms and tops of their hands.  
Philip meanwhile tried to keep himself under control, upon seeing that Winston was wearing the 'missing' ring.  
He cleared his throat and said," Very good gentlemen.  
Carry on."

The ghostbusters decided that they should split into two groups, in order to find what they were looking for.  
Peter and Egon remained on the main level, while Ray and Winston went to the second floor.  
Every few minutes or so, they would make contact with one another via walkie talkie, but there was no sign of any paranormal activity.  
At some point during the search, Winston seprated from Ray and began to look around on his own.  
Suddenly, a hand appeared out of nowhere, and covered Winston's face with a cloth.  
Winston tried to speak, put the cloth had cloriphone on it, causing him to become unconsiuess.

Meanwhile, Ray who was in another second on the second level picked up his walkie talkie and spoke into it.  
"Ray calling Winston.  
Winston you there?" said Ray.  
But there was no answered.  
Ray tried to call Winston once again, but there was still no respond.  
Ray began to get nervous.  
He then paged Peter and Egon to see if either of them could reach Winston.  
Both tried and didn't get a word back.  
Ray told the other two ghostbusters to meet him on the second floor.  
When Egon and Peter arrived to meet Ray, what started as a search for a ghost, turned into a search for a ghostbuster.  
The three of them raced around the floors and called out Winston's name.  
"Egon! Peter! I found something!" Ray called out.  
The two met Ray near a statue.  
While Winston wasn't there, Ray however found his walkie talkie and a PKE meter.


	6. Chapter 6

After a few moments of moaning and stirring, Winston opened his eyes.  
He looked around to see that he wasn't on the second level of the museum, but what appeared to be another place.  
It was the basment of the museum.  
Winston tried to moved, but soon realized that he was tied to chair.  
His hands were tied to each arm rest of the chair, while his legs were tied around his ankles and knees.  
Not to mention his upper body was tied up as well, with his proton pack leaning heavily on his back.  
Winston then tried to open his mouth and call for help, but it was covered by a large stick of duct tape.  
The only sounds he was able to make were muffles.  
Suddenly, Winston heard footsteps.  
Within seconds, Philip was standing before him.  
"Glad to see you have woken up," said Philip with an evil smile to his face, which made Winston nervous.

Back on the main floor of the building , the other three Ghostbusters went on their search for Winston.  
They looked up and down the museum, but had no luck.  
"I can't believe.  
We looked everywhere, but there's no sign of Winston," sighed Ray.  
"Let's hope for our sake, he's still somewhere in the museum," said Egon.  
"Egon, we looked all over the place and came up empty," Peter concluded.  
"There has to be a place we haven't searched yet," Ray added.  
Just then, an older gentleman approached the team.  
It was Mr. Baxter.  
"Ghostbusters, what brings you back here?" asked Mr. Baxter.  
"We got a call saying a possible sighting for more ghosts," Ray answered.  
"I didn't make a call."  
"Someone else did.  
He greeted us a while ago and for some reason he asked to check our hands," Peter answered.  
"Not to mention one of our team members has disappeared," Egon added.  
It was at that moment a thought came into Ray's head.  
"Wait a minute.  
I don't think that guy wanted us here to catch ghosts.  
He wanted to see if one of us had the ring," he said.  
"He then sent us on a wild goose chase," Peter added.  
"I think I know who it is, said Mr. Baxter, Where did you last see you team member?"  
"On the second floor," Ray answered.  
"We've looked all over the museum, but we had no luck finding him," Egon added.  
"We do have a few restricted areas that only the staff and I can go through," Mr. Baxter pointed out.  
He then lead the ghostbusters to a doorway.  
Mr. Baxter noticed that there was a key already in the doorknob.

Meanwhile in the basement, Philip tried with all his might to get the ring off of Winston's finger.  
But it was still stuck on him.  
This actually caused Winston's hand to become slightly bruised.  
"Damn it.  
That ring is stuck on good, snapped Philip, I guess there's only one thing to do."  
Philip grabbed a nearby cutting knife off a table and began to inch it towards Winston's hand.  
Winston himself started to panic.  
He tried to tell Philip stop, but his mouth was covered, and the rope around his wrist prevented him from moving his hand away from the blade.  
"Stop right there Philip!" called out a voice, which caused Philip to drop the knife.  
Heading their way down the stairs to the basement was Mr. Baxter and the ghostbusters.  
Philip was speechless by seeing his boss.  
"Uh, Mr. Baxter, what a surprise.  
What brings you down here?" Philip asked with a voice full of nervousness.  
"The same thing I was going to ask you.  
I found this in the door knob, said Mr. Baxter, as he showed Philip a key, with a ring that had the intials PCT on it.  
"I...I..I can explain."

During that time, Egon, Ray and Peter were freeing Winston.  
Ray took out his boy scout knife and cut the ropes off Winston, while Peter ripped the tape off Winston's mouth.  
"Ow! did you really have to pull that hard Venkman," Winston asked.  
"You're welcome," Peter snapped back.  
"Are you OK Winston?" Egon asked, helping his fellow ghostbuster out of the chair.  
"A lot better now thanks," Winston answered.  
Philip turned to Winston and was able to speak clearly,"Mr. Baxter call the police.  
That ghostbuster stole the ring."  
"I can explain sir, said Winston, When my team mates and I were here earlier.  
I found the ring on the floor, thinking it came from the gift shop, so I paid for it.  
"That would explain why Doris in the gift shop said we were a few dollars over," said Mr. Baxter.  
But this ring has brought nothing but back luck to me."  
Winston lifted his hand, and as he did, the ring slipped off his finger onto the ground.  
"Now I understand how the ring disappeared from the museum but what was it doing out in the open in the first place?" said Mr. Baxter, after picking up the ring off the ground.  
He then turned to Philip with a glare in his eyes.  
"I uh..I Uh..." said a once again speechless Philip.  
Just then, the room began to shake.  
Within seconds afterwards, a glowing light entered the basement and several ghosts appeared out of nowhere.  
"Wha...What's going on here?!" said Philp.  
"Who are those ghouls?" Mr. Baxter added.  
"The spirits of those who wore the ring in the past," Ray answered.  
"And apparently they've come to find a new spirit to join them," Egon added.  
The spirits began to chase Philip and Mr. Baxter out of the basement, while the ghostbusters followed behind trying the catch up.

When they made their way back up to the main floor of the museum, the ghostbusters saw that the spirits had cornered Mr. Baxter and Philip.  
"So what do we do?" asked Peter.  
"We need to create a diversion as a way of getting the entities' attention to us and way from Mr. Baxter and his co-worker," Egon answered.  
"How do we do that?" asked Ray.  
"I think I have a plan," said Winston.  
He shouted out to Mr. Baxter, "Throw the ring to us!"  
"Are you insane?" asked Philip.  
"Please you have to trust us," said Winston.  
Mr. Baxter tossed the ring across the room and thankfully, Winston was able to catch it. 


	7. chapter 7

Once he caught the ring, Winston called out to the ghosts.  
"Hey, we got what you want!" he shouted, waving the ring.  
The spirits then turned their attention onto the ghostbusters.  
Little did the ghouls knew, the team had their proton wands ready to fire up.  
"Ready! Aim! Fire!" Ray called out.  
One by one, he Winston Peter and Egon shot their wands as proton streams sprayed around the ghosts.  
"We got them in place!"  
Open the trap!" yelled Egon, through the commotion.  
Peter stomped the trap open, and the ghosts were sucked inside.  
Once the trap was closed off, smoke crept from the top, which meant it was full.

Philip raced to the trap and knelt down next to it.  
"No! he shouted, "That ring was suppose to make me a fortune!  
I was going to hold it for a bit for ransom and give it back!"  
"Philip!" Mr. Baxter yelled, who was standing behind his co-worker  
Philip jumped to his feet and said," Uh, sir since these gentlemen had the ring along, they are technicly responsible."  
"You're fired!  
And I'm calling the police!"

When the police arrived, Philip was originally set to be charged with robbery and kidnapping.  
However, Winston requested to have the second offense removed, as he not the other ghostbusters had plan on pressing any charges.  
Philip was though indeed charged with robbery as the ring was part of the museum's property.  
Although the ghostbusters weren't charged for robbery, as Winston taking the ring outside the building was indeed an accident, they did have to pay a small fine, plus had their bill for the museum for catching the new batch of ghosts reduce from the regular fee.

Later on that evening, as they had dinner, the ghostbusters talked about the rather interesting day that had.  
"Man am I ever glad to get that ring off my finger," said Winston, before biting into a slice of pizza, which was the meal of the night.  
"I'm glad for your sake to," Ray add.  
After swallowing his bite of pizza, Peter asked, "Winston, did you really think you were given bad luck from wearing the ring, or was everything just a coininsedse?  
Because, I found that rather unreal that a piece of jewelry can lead to unluckiness."  
"I actually agree with you on your theory Venkman," said Egon, wiping some sauce off his face with a napkin.  
"What a minute hold the phone.  
Dr. Egon Spengler and I agree to something?"  
"When Ray and I were reading up on the ring, I myself was skeptical on it's history."  
"You were?" Ray asked.  
"Yes, I don't believe in luck being in the matter form of good or bad," Egon answered.  
But what about all those people who wore the ring in the past?"  
"Including myself, Winston pointed out, I'm with Ray on this one.  
I mean all those problems with me began after I put that ring on."  
"Exactly," Ray replied.  
"I guess everyone has their own thoughts of believing in luck," said Egon.  
"What about karma?" asked Winston.  
"That to."  
"Look all I know is, the ring is back at the museum where it belongs, so our days of bad luck are over and done with," said Peter, as he took another bite of pizza.  
However, he ended up getting sauce on the front of his shirt.  
"Aww crap, this is my good shirt," said Peter, as he placed his slice of pizza down and went up to the sink to wash off his stain from his shirt.  
As Peter turned on the faucet, the water sprayed out quickly splashing him.  
Once he was able to get the flow of the water under control, Peter placed some soap and water onto a paper towel and began to scrub at the sauce.  
After cleaning the stain off, Peter threw the towel away, but missed the trash can.  
Peter had bend down to pick up the paper towel, when suddenly there was a sound.  
"RRRRIIIPPPP!" went the noise.  
A look of enbarassment came across Peter's face.  
"On second thought now Egon, I think I believe what you and Peter just said," said Winston.  
"Me to," Ray added.  
"Shut up you two," said Peter, as he placed his hands on the seat of his pants and walked backwards out of the kitchen, as the other three ghostbusters held in their laughter, until he was completely out of the room.

The End


End file.
